Delhi High Court Denies Bail To 'ISIS Associate' In UAPA Case, Says He Was Advocating 'Jihad' To Establish Caliphate

The Delhi High Court has recently denied bail to an alleged member of ISIS in a case registered by National Investigation Agency (NIA) accusing him of radicalising youths using cyber space.

A division bench comprising of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Amit Sharma dismissed the plea moved by MD Heydaitullah, observing that the mandate of Section 43(D)(5) of UAPA was clearly applicable in the case.

“ISIS had been declared to be a terrorist organisation and judicial notice can be taken of the fact that the world at large knows about the activities of ISIS. The aforesaid chats further reflect the intention of the Appellant to join ISIS (Dawlah) and was ready to perform Hijrah (travel) for the same,” the Court said.

It noted that it was not a case of passive support to a terrorist organisation, but the chats showed that the accused was advocating Jihad in order to establish Khilafat (Caliphate).

By doing so the Appellant was also trying to recruit the individuals on these online groups for such acts, the Bench said.

The NIA alleged that the accused was a close associate of co-accused Basit Kalam Siddiqui and had conspired to establish Sharia law in India under the flag of ISIS by waging Jihad.

It was further alleged that he was disseminating the ISIS ideology through the cyber space and was spreading hatred against the Government of India by promoting enmity against Hindus on social media.

Denying him bail, the Court that the recovery of incriminating material recovered from his mobile phone showing Pro-ISIS material, including a photograph depicting ISIS flag installed at India Gate and a copy of Bayath, would show that he areas deeply influenced with the philosophy and ideology of ISIS.

“…the Appellant was keen to invite people to join groups and create a movement to further the activities of ISIS. The chats as reproduced hereinabove reflect that the Appellant was not just a passive supporter of ISIS, but was determined to further its activities by influencing other individuals at various platforms,” the Court said.

It added that all the observations were to satisfy if a prima facie case for bail was made out or not qua the accused.

The Court clarified that nothing mentioned in the ruling was an opinion on the merits of the case and the observations were for the purpose of the appeal.

Title: MD HEYDAITULLAH v. NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 17

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